Wednesday, April 10, 2013

As further proof that the guitar/band games are faltering,
Rock Band is no longer releasing new tracks for purchase, and will be pulling a
few from their store starting at the end of the month.
A few songs have already been removed, such as the Metallica pack released in
2007.

This isn’t because of lawsuits like we’ve seen with Nirvana
and No Doubt, but licenses have expired. Some of the earliest releases are no
longer under contract, and Harmonix has to pull the songs. If you already own
some of these tracks, you won’t be affected. You paid for them and you get to
keep them. It does affect those who wish to purchase them for the first time
and DLC bundles that use to contain songs that are going to be removed. It also
shouldn’t affect those who need to re-download the content (accidental
deletion, console transfers, etc.) but that’s up in the air as well.

It’s a sign of the times. Rock Band and Guitar Hero made an
impact but their stint in the business is long gone. The chances of these songs
being re-licensed are slim at best. The micro-transactions will probably not
turn a profit should they return to the pool of songs. The shift in the
industry is towards motion, thus the likes of Just Dance have taken over the
systems. It might be time for Harmonix to pull the plug, so to speak, and start
in a new direction. Maybe a next-gen Rock Band is on the horizon that will take
us somewhere we haven’t seen with rhythm games.